The Third Belt and Road Initiative Cities International Forum (Yiwu) opens in Yiwu on Dec 8. [Photo/WeChat account: yiwufb]

The Third Belt and Road Initiative Cities International Forum (Yiwu) opened in Yiwu on Dec 8, focusing on the co-development of a high-quality Silk Road and a global business circle.

More than 40 political, business and academic leaders from home and abroad discussed the past and future of the Belt and Road Initiative, explored new ways to develop the world's small commodity capital, and sought a new future for the Yiwu market.

Attendees included Danilo Turk, former president of Slovenia and former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, Grzegorz Kolodko, former deputy prime minister and finance minister of Poland, Xie Shengwen, South African ambassador to China, and Wang Chao, president of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.

Wang Chao said that the Belt and Road Initiative has become a popular international public product and a new platform for international cooperation in the past decade. He expressed his willingness to strengthen cooperation with all provinces and cities, including Yiwu, and promote international cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Jian, Party secretary of Yiwu, said that Yiwu has continuously strengthened its unique advantages as a world supermarket and that it will further strengthen exchange and cooperation with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The forum also held keynote speeches, strategic dialogues, and three parallel forums on various topics related to the Belt and Road Initiative.